Love and War: A Series of OneShots
by Rochelleteentitan
Summary: A series of One-shots featuring Ichigo and/or Orihime and others! One-shot 5: Hands. The last time he had held someone's hand, it had been his mother's.
1. Model Behavior

A/N: Yes, I should be updating As it All Unravels Around Us, but this one shot idea won't leave me alone! And I am half way done with the next chapter. And in case I get any other ideas, I'm going to turn this into a series of one shots so I don't keep flooding the website with all my random one-shot ideas. : D Most will probably center around Orihime and/or Ichigo, but who knows who else might pop up?

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach

Model Behavior:

"Kurosaki-san, move your hand. Put it in her hair, or something." Ichigo followed the photographer's instructions with an air of professional indifference.

Orihime flushed violently. Why had she let Yumichicka, the charismatic model representative, talk her into this? She inwardly cursed the day he had 'discovered' her in Karakura's mall. She had just wanted to get her favorite treat from the mall kiosk and now look what had come of it!

Orihime tried to keep herself from shaking as Kurosaki Ichigo's hand ran though her long auburn hair. Lights flashed as the photographer snapped images. Why did the other model have to be so good-looking and experienced? And because they were modeling bathing suits, very little was left to the imagination.

Black suits him, she thought as her eyes dipped to his black swim trunks. Her eyes rose until she was staring at his extremely well developed six pack. He looks photo shopped! The shy recent high school graduate blushed when she realized her hand had been creeping toward those picture perfect abs without her consent. She clenched her hand and allowed it to drop to her side. Her eyes continued their upward ascent until she was staring at his chest. It was lightly coated with bright orange hair. A good amount of hair, but not too much. It just adds to his masculinity, she decided. Her grey eyes finally moved up to his face. God. He was so handsome. Strong jaw line, tanned skin, amber eyes that she felt could bore into her soul. And his hair! So bright, and it looked soft too. She wanted to run her fingers through it.

She blushed and looked away once she realized she was basically ogling him in front of all these people. She shifted uncomfortably, resisting her urge to cover up. She tried to suck in her stomach. Maybe eating a burrito right before coming to the shoot wasn't her best idea. She felt very insecure in her leopard print bikini, something she would never wear under normal circumstances since her abundant breasts were practically spilling out of the top.

The photographer sighed irritably. "Inoue-san, you look tense. In every frame. You're supposed to be a couple. You can touch him. He won't bite. Unless you're into that kind of thing…" The photographer commented.

Orihime thought she was probably the same shade of her hair at this point. But she didn't want to upset everybody here, so she hesitantly placed her hand on Kurosaki-san's abs.

She had told the photographer and everyone else involved that this was her first shoot and that she was nervous. They had all seemed understanding at the time, but as time went on and all the pictures taken were unusable because of her awkwardness, they were becoming frustrated.

Grimmjow, another model Orihime had met earlier who would be shooting a calendar after them, observed with a smirk from his position in a nearby make-up chair. "Lick her Ichigo." A lewd smile replaced the smirk. "That will loosen her right up."

Orihime immediately dropped her hand from Ichigo's abs, using both hands to hide her red, red face. Ichigo glared at his friend. "You're making it worse." He returned his attention to Orihime. "Oi, if it helps, just picture your real boyfriend instead of me." He suggested.

Orihime peeked at him through her fingers. "I don't have a boyfriend." She felt compelled to tell him.

"You do now." Grimmjow teased, licking his lips suggestively as he looked Orihime over from head to toe.

Orihime groaned in embarrassment. She wished she could disappear. Or fall into a hole. Or die. No fate could be worse than her current situation.

Ichigo's glare held more heat this time when he looked at his long time friend. "Stop teasing her! Bastard." Once again, he returned his attention to Orihime after snapping at his friend. She seemed fragile. He felt a strange urge to protect this stranger. "Just follow my lead. Don't think, okay?"

Orihime nodded, doubting she could refuse anything he asked even if she wanted to. Ichigo turned to the photographer, who had stopped snapping pictures during their little pep talk. "Ready?" Ichigo asked. The photographer nodded.

Ichigo guided her right arm to wrap around his neck, while his right arm wrapped around her waist, resting just above her bottom and pulling her to him. She blushed at being in such close proximity, but closed her eyes and reminded herself not to think. Her blush faded. He interlocked the fingers of their left hands, allowing their joined hands to rest between the pair on his chest.

The cameras flashed and Orihime slowly opened her ashen orbs, finding herself staring into his intense brown eyes. For the first time, she held his gaze. He leaned forward, resting his head on her shoulder. The camera clicked as the photographer captured the new pose.

Ichigo placed his lips right on the shell of her ear. She shivered involuntarily. "Breathe." Ichigo whispered in her ear. She did as he commanded.

"Kiss her." The photographer directed, adjusting his position to capture the shot from a lower angle.

He did. Thoroughly. With tongue. He released her left hand and cupped her face, turning her head to an angle that would allow him to kiss her _even deeper_. Her now free left hand tangled in his bright locks. His hair was soft, she realized. The camera continued to flash as the moment was documented. Eventually, the photographer had his shot and placed the camera down. He had to clear his throat, loudly, to alert the kissing couple that he was done.

He broke away. Leaving her breathless.

"Damn." Grimmjow verbalized what everyone else was thinking. "That looked a hell of a lot like a real kiss. Or you guys are just really good actors." Suddenly, he smirked. It seemed almost feral. "But I remember the 5th grade play Ichigo, and your acting sucks."

…..

….

End

So what did you think? Please review!


	2. Run Away With Me

A/N: Alternate Universe Ichigo/Orihime

….

…

"Run away with me."

Startled orange-brown eyes met her companion's amber orbs. She could swear that his gaze was boring into her. It was so intense. "W-what?" She asked, thinking she must have misheard him.

"You heard me. What's keeping you here?"

He had a point. What was keeping her in Karakura? She had no family. Tatsuki had all her international karate competitions and was rarely here anymore. She had just graduated high school but couldn't afford college so she would just be here working at a dead end job.

"But Kurosaki-kun-" He interrupted.

"I told you to call me Ichigo, Orihime."

She blushed before correcting herself. "But Ichigo-kun, what would I do in the circus?"

The circus acrobat shrugged. "I don't know. There's a lot of behind the scenes stuff you could do. Or you could do nothing. It doesn't matter to me whether you're in the circus or not. I just want you with me."

Orihime sighed and pulled her knees up to her chest, resting her head on her knees. She watched the roadies take down the circus tents and pack up the carnival stands. Tomorrow, Urahara's Circus was leaving Karakura after a month in the small town. "This is all very sudden Ichigo-kun."

"Falling in love with you was very sudden too." Ichigo rebutted, lying down on the top of his trailer where the couple was sitting. He patted the spot beside him before crossing his arms behind his head, looking at the stars.

Orihime lied next to him, resting her head on his chest. "Do you….do you ever get lonely? Don't you ever want a home that's not on wheels? Don't you sometimes wish you could be normal?" She asked.

He would have shrugged had he not been lying down. "I don't know any different. I'm 5th generation of circus. To me, this is normal." He wrapped his arm around the petite auburn haired girl. "And why would I be lonely? My sisters and I are in the same flying act so we're together all the time. And Dad is here too. And I have friends you know. Circus is family, we're all close."

"I miss having a family." Orihime confided.

"Then come with me." Ichigo responded.

"It's not that simple." She mumbled.

"It is that simple. You love me, right?" He asked.

She sat up so she could look into his eyes. "Of course I do. I love you more than anything. Which might sound silly since I've only known you for a month, but it's the truth."

He smiled. Hearing her say that always put a smile on his face. He sat up too, gripping her hand. "Then come with me."

She blinked and looked down at their intertwined hands. "Okay."

His grin widened. "Okay?"

She nodded. "Let's run away together!"

Tatsuki-chan was going to be mad. But the next time the circus came to Karakura, she would make sure to introduce them. Tatsuki-chan would like Ichigo-kun. And even if she didn't like him, once Tatsuki saw his abs she would understand. Apparently, acrobatics was great exercise.

….

…

A/N: I really like writing these shorter one shots, so expect many more! Please review!


	3. Jealousy

A/N: Post War.

Jealousy:

….

…

"Have you guys seen Suzuki's face!?" Keigo asked the group of seniors assembled on the roof for lunch.

Chad offered a non-committal grunt, Ishida didn't even look up from his bento, and Mizuiro continued to text his latest fling on his cell phone. Keigo glowered at the lack of response from his so-called friends. But he didn't let their obvious disinterest interrupt his narrative.

"Someone beat the crap out of him. I heard he lost not one, not two, not three, but EIGHT teeth!" Keigo described melodramatically.

The roof door slammed open.

"Ah! Ichigo!" Keigo exclaimed, hoping his orange haired friend would be more talkative than the rest of the roof's occupants. "Have you seen Suzuki Jougo's face? He is almost unrecognizable, completely bruised and he lost not one, not two, but EIG-" Keigo was denied his chance to finish his statement.

"He had it coming." Ichigo muttered darkly as he took a seat on the ground. He leaned against the railing as he pulled his lunch out of his school bag.

"Ehhhh?! You're the one that beat up Suzuki? Ichigo, you really need to try to lay low! We're so close to graduating but if you get expelled-" Keigo was interrupted once again.

"Where's Inoue-san?" Ishida asked, finally looking up from his lunch.

Ichigo glared at the Quincy. "What's it to you?"

Ishida rolled his eyes at Ichigo's defensive tone. For some reason, the Substitute Shinigami just could not get it through his tiny mind that Ishida was not interested in Orihime in a romantic way. Ishida had no idea what Orihime saw in the possessive prick.

"Well, Ichigo, it is kind of weird that she isn't here. Since you two started dating, she and Tatsuki always eat lunch with us." Mizuiro tried to defend Ishida's question, but he regretted his actions when Ichigo redirected his glare from Ishida to Mizuiro himself.

Seeing the guys were not going to drop it, Ichigo reluctantly decided to just answer Ishida's question. "Orihime is eating with the girls today."

"Why?" Chad finally joined the conversation.

"She's mad at me." Ichigo finally revealed.

"For what?" Keigo asked.

Why were they all so nosy? It was his personal business. But he knew they wouldn't stop prying until he told them everything, and he was already mentally exhausted from his fight with his girlfriend and had no energy left to fight his friends. "For punching Suzuki in the face, but like I said, he had it coming."

"Well, what did he do?" Keigo had taken it upon himself to be the designated questioner of the group.

"On Saturday, me and Orihime agreed to meet at the park after I got off work. My boss ended up making me stay past my assigned hours doing ridiculous chores she could have just gotten her little brat to do, so I was running late. So when I got to the park, Orihime was waiting for me on the bench, but she wasn't alone." Ichigo paused for dramatic effect. "Suzuki was sitting there with her, and he had his arm around her!"

Chad raised an eyebrow.

"Wait, so his arm was actually around her or was he just resting his arm behind her on the bench?" Mizuiro asked.

Ichigo frowned. "Same thing! Either way, his arm didn't need to be anywhere near her. AND, you should have seen the pervert smirk on his face as he was talking to her. I had to punch that smirk off his face!"

All his friends sweat dropped, clearly not taking his side on the issue. For some reason, their lack of support infuriated him. Ichigo was unsure why he even cared what they thought, but someone had to be on his side!

"And this isn't the first time either! Anytime we go anywhere, guys are always trying to flirt with her or feel her up or eye fuck her and she doesn't even realize what they are doing! It pisses me off and this time I finally snapped!" Ichigo complained loudly, unaware that he had been squeezing his juice box as his temper rose and now it was basically unrecognizable in his hand.

Something out of the corner of his eye caught his attention suddenly, and he turned around and shoved his arm through the railing, pointing at the girls. "Look! Look at them right now!"

His tone was so urgent his friends felt compelled to do as he said. All five boys crowded around the railing where they had a good view of Orihime.

"Look at that asshole approaching her." Ichigo demanded. A short skinny student with chestnut brown hair approached Orihime. They couldn't hear from the roof, but they could see the two were talking. Orihime was smiling. Ichigo's scowl became more pronounced as she laughed at something he said.

"You mean Genshu? He's just a freshman Kurosaki. He's in the sewing club with us. He is talking to her, not flirting." Ishida's tone indicated how ridiculous he felt Ichigo was being.

"Bullshit! Look at him fidgeting, if he isn't trying anything why is he so nervous?" Ichigo rebutted.

"When someone tries to flirt with one of my girlfriends, I take it as a compliment." Mizuiro tried to point out a silver lining for his long time friend.

"Well, I don't. Especially since my girlfriend is too nice to tell them to get the hell away from her. And since she wasn't going to say anything to Suzuki, what other choice did I have besides beating the crap out of him?" Ichigo replied.

Keigo continued to watch Orihime as she finished conversing with Genshu and went back to eating her lunch. "Are you sure she's mad at you? I can't really picture sweet Orihime-chan ever being mad at anyone, especially you."

Ichigo rolled his eyes. "I think I can tell when she's mad. She didn't even come over to heal me after I finished hollow hunting yesterday. And she called me an insensitive jerk. And she wants me to apologize to Suzuki." He scoffed. "As if that is going to happen. And then when I complained about her being oblivious to guys flirting with her, she claimed that I'm the oblivious one when other girls are flirting with me! And then she just stormed off and I haven't talked to her since."

"Hm." Chad added. Those assembled couldn't tell whether that was meant to be in support of Ichigo or Orihime.

"You're oblivious in general." Ishida criticized. Ichigo glared, wondering why Ishida even ate with them,

"Well, she has a point." Mizuiro mumbled, stroking his chin thoughtfully.

"What the hell?! No she doesn't! If a girl were flirting with me, I would let them know that I'm taken and that they need to back off. Which is what my girlfriend should do!" Ichigo was basically screeching at this point.

"Remember my ex-girlfriend Mayuko?" Mizuiro asked.

"The one with the really hot daughter?" Keigo asked, practically drooling at the thought of the pretty 15 year old.

Mizuiro nodded. "That's the one. When you met Tiza, she kept batting her eye lashes at you Ichigo."

Ichigo blinked. "Batting her eyelashes?"

"Like this." Chad demonstrated eyelash batting for the group. It was quite disturbing.

Ichigo blinked again. "That's flirting? I thought a bug flew into her eye!"

"And Riruka had a crush on you." Chad reminded Ichigo.

"What are you talking about? Riruka hated me. She was always making fun of me."

"That was her way of flirting." Chad explained patiently, amused at just how oblivious Ichigo was.

"And haven't you noticed the way the underclassmen girls look at you when you walk through the halls? I would kill to get those looks! It's so unfair, the admiration is wasted on you!" Keigo began to throw a temper tantrum, striking his hands and feet on the roof like a petulant toddler.

Ichigo looked completely puzzled, was he really that oblivious? "This can't be true. If all these girls are flirting with me, then why doesn't Orihime get mad?"

"Because she's not an insecure jealous asshole like you." Ishida commented. Ichigo shot the Quincy another glare, but this one held far less heat then the previous ones.

"No matter how many other guys try to flirt with her, in the end she chose you Ichigo. So there is no need to be so jealous." As the resident Casanova of the group, Mizuiro shared the closing thought.

Ichigo sighed and stood up, brushing crumbs off his uniform. "Whatever." He mumbled before heading toward the door.

"Where are you going?" Keigo asked.

Ichigo didn't answer. The door slammed loudly behind him.

For a moment, there was silence. But Keigo can't stand silence. "Did you guys hear they are making another Bad Shield sequel? This one is starring-"

"Oi! Suzuki!" Ichigo's voice carried from the courtyard. "Hey! Stop running away from me! I'm not going to hit you! I'm trying to apologize! HEY!"

….

…

End.

A.N: Thank you to everyone who has read, reviewed, and favorited/alerted! Please review this chapter and tell me what you think! Also, I want to write a part II for one of these three oneshots, which one do you want a sequel to?


	4. Picture Perfect

A.N: This is a follow up to One Shot #1, Model Behavior.

Picture Perfect (Model Behavior 2):

….

…

Being a very light sleeper, one ring from the hotel phone was enough to lure Orihime from her slumber. Still half asleep, she groped around the bedside table before her fingers closed around the ringing object.

"Hello?" She mumbled sleepily, rubbing sleep from her eyes.

There was a pause before a robotic voice came through the receiver. "Good morning! This is your 4:00 AM wake up call."

"Oh, yes. Thank you very much." It wasn't until she hung up that she realized she had just thanked an automated response. Oh well, maybe machines had feelings too and no one had noticed besides her. She placed the phone back on the table before rolling over to her original position.

"Ich~i~go~kun…" She sung into his ear.

He groaned and rolled over, now facing away from his girlfriend. As if that alone would stop her.

She scooted over, wrapping an arm around his mid section and squeezing. She placed a kiss on the back of his neck before running her fingers through his messy hair. "We have to wake up Ichigo-kun."

"Too damn early." He muttered, trying in vain to go back to sleep.

"Call time is 6:30 A.M. And we still have to shower and get dressed." Orihime reminded him.

Ichigo turned so he was face to face with Orihime, reluctantly opening his eyes. "I'm not you. It doesn't take me an hour to take a shower. I could wake up at 5:45 and still get to the studio in time."

"Don't you want to have time for breakfast? I thought we could stop somewhere on the way there." Orihime replied.

"Craft services will have food there." He responded.

Orihime wrinkled her nose in disgust. "Craft service food is always terrible."

Ichigo smirked. "Coming from you, the girl who thinks red bean paste goes with everything, that is a huge insult."

Orihime playfully swatted at his arm. His smirk widened. She gently glided her fingers over his fading black eye. "My home made healing crème is really working! Your eye looks so much better! Maybe now Kuchiki-san won't kill you."

Ichigo frowned. "Rukia doesn't own me. Just because she's my agent doesn't mean she gets to tell me how to live my life."

Ichigo was an aspiring mixed martial art fighter. So was Grimmjow. Unfortunately, mixed martial arts didn't pay the bills unless you could win the big tournaments. And the best paying tournaments took a lot of time and experience to even qualify for. Modeling was just a quick way to make a lot of cash. Although Ichigo had been doing it for over two years now, it definitely wasn't what he wanted to do permanently.

"You need to be more careful. You don't want to ruin this pretty face, do you?" She teased, resting her hand on his cheek.

His frown became more pronounced. "Don't make fun of me. He took a cheap shot. One little black eye is nothing. Besides, they have make-up and Photoshop. I'll still look picture perfect."

Orihime smiled at her boyfriend before hopping out of bed. He groaned in protest when she pulled the covers off of him. "It's time to wake up! I'm going to take a shower. When I get out, you better be up, or else."

He swung his long legs off the bed and stood, scratching his bare chest. Even though they had been dating for over a year and she often saw him shirtless, she couldn't keep her eyes from roaming over his figure in his boxers. He smirked when he noticed she was checking him out. She blushed at being caught, hastily turning away from him and heading for the bathroom. As she was closing the door, something obstructed her.

She looked down to see Ichigo's foot blocking the door. "If we share a shower, we'll have more time for breakfast." He suggested, walking into the bathroom and shutting the door behind him.

She raised an eyebrow. Save time by sharing a shower? Not the way their showers together always ended up.

….

…

"I told you we were going to be late." Orihime chided as Ichigo drove their rental car faster toward Tokyo.

He rolled his eyes. "You're the one who booked the hotel just outside of Tokyo to save money."

"All the nice hotels in Tokyo were booked already. And if we hadn't been in the shower for over an hour, we would have been on time."

He kept his eyes on the road but somehow his hand found hers. "Well, I had a pretty good time in the shower." He looked away from the road to glance at her, a handsome smirk on his face. "You did too." She blushed. He returned his gaze to the road. "So what if we're a little late? I'm the principal male model. They can't start without me."

"Still, you get to model opposite Matsumoto Rangiku today! She is a super model! Probably the most famous model in Japan. You can't keep Matsumoto Rangiku waiting! We'll never work again!" Her tone indicated just how worried she was.

"Oh well. We'll just have to get real jobs I guess." He replied dismissively.

Orihime pouted and looked out the window. True, she didn't really like modeling, especially romantic shoots with people who weren't her boyfriend, but it did pay the bills. College was expensive, and she hoped to go to medical school after undergrad, which would be even more expensive. Ichigo disliked modeling a lot more than she did, but he could still take it a little bit more seriously.

Ichigo noticed the silence, something very rare when being around Inoue Orihime. "Are you mad?" He asked. "I was kidding."

"I'm not mad. I'm just a little nervous. We're going to model with Matsumoto Rangiku! I know I'm just going to be in the background, but being in the same photo with Matsumoto-san, she's so beautiful. I can't even compare with her."

"What are you talking about? You're beautiful Orihime." Orihime fidgeted uncomfortably. She was never good at taking a compliment. "Plus, Matsumoto is old."

Orihime gasped. "Ichigo-kun! Don't speak badly of Matsumoto-san! She's a legend!"

"Legend? For what?" Ichigo asked.

For the rest of the thirty-minute drive to Tokyo, Orihime explained why Matsumoto

was so admirable and why Ichigo should be honored to work with her.

….

…

Hours later, Orihime's admiration for Matsumoto Rangiku was waning considerably. Not because of Matsumoto herself, she was actually lovely. She didn't have a diva attitude and introduced herself to all the other models and the crew. Orihime and Rangiku got along rather well, but as Orihime watched Rangiku interact with her boyfriend of a little over a year, she was starting to like her less and less.

"Oh Matsumoto-san, you're perfect! You're beautiful! Keep doing what you're doing! Oh, just like that! Yes! Yes! YES!" Orihime felt the photographer's praise was a little over the top.

Rangiku continued to stare sultrily at the camera, changing her pose slightly with each shot. Orihime watched warily as Ichigo's hand moved further up the supermodel's outer high, helping to keep her leg up and show the high heels she was modeling no doubt, but that didn't mean it upset Orihime any less.

Ichigo and Orihime rarely worked together. Ichigo tended to book more high fashion shoots while Orihime was more catalogue. Neither of the two did a lot of runway; Orihime because of her lack of ability to walk in heels and Ichigo because he felt runway was embarrassing and emasculating. And judging by her reaction to watching her boyfriend flirting with Rangiku for the cameras, they wouldn't be working together ever again.

"Inoue-san, stop staring at Matsumoto-san." The photographer snapped.

Orihime quickly returned her attention to Hisagi, the male model she was supposed to be talking to in the photo. The studio had been designed to look like a club. They had hired extras to be the regular club goers, and five models besides Ichigo and Rangiku to wear other shoe designs. Orihime's heels were too high and she couldn't stand, so the photographer had instructed her to sit on a table, making sure to keep her feet in front so they would be in the photo.

Hisagi watched as her eyes slowly returned to Ichigo and Rangiku. "Is he your boyfriend?" He finally asked.

Orihime returned her gaze to Hisagi and nodded.

Hisagi smiled. "He's a lucky guy." Orihime returned his smile, but couldn't fight down her blush. "You don't have to worry about them you know. I don't know your boyfriend, but I know Rangiku. She generally goes for the older, more mature type."

Despite Hisagi's assurances, for the rest of the shoot Orihime shot suspicious looks at the two stars of the photo. Their convincing displays of affection were really getting under her skin. She was relieved when the photographer finally called for a break so hair and make-up could get retouched. She quickly hopped off the table, wobbling and almost falling because of the heels, before waddling over to the craft service table where Ichigo was picking at the food. A make-up assistant dabbed concealer on his eye as he snacked on a cookie. He smiled when she reached his side. "Hey."

"Hi. So what do you think of Rangiku-san?" She winced. She had meant to ease into the conversation, not blurt it out immediately.

He grabbed some chips. How he ate like that and looked so good she would never know. "She's okay. Nicer than I thought she would be."

"She is prettier in person too." Orihime commented, closely watching his reaction.

He shrugged. "I guess so. I always thought her boobs had to be photo shopped, but I guess I was wrong."

She gaped. She didn't often feel boob envy, but Rangiku's chest was even larger than her own. She looked down at her own chest before glancing at Rangiku, who was now engaged in conversation with Renji, Ikkaku, and Neliel, some of the other models. Ichigo noticed her comparative gaze. "Are you jealous?" His tone sounded more amused than she would have liked.

"No!" She lied.

He smirked. "You're totally jealous." The make-up girl finished retouching him and walked away. Orihime started when one of the hair assistants starting coming her hair, but ignored their presence and continued her discussion with her boyfriend.

"I'm not!"

"Just because we met at a shoot doesn't mean I'm going to use every other shoot as an opportunity to try to get a new girlfriend." He explained. She remained silent, not wanting him to know exactly how much she worried about that exact scenario. "Although I appreciate you being jealous, you have nothing to worry about. I really like you, you know."

Orihime positively beamed. The assistant finished with her hair and Orihime thanked her before she walked off. And although Ichigo didn't exactly say it, she knew what he really meant. "I love you too." She confessed.

"Good." Ichigo responded before capturing her lips. Normally he would have allowed the kiss to linger, but he didn't want to ruin her make-up that had been so painstakingly applied. He pulled back after the unusually chaste kiss.

"Models! We're ready!" The photographer yelled.

Ichigo grabbed one more handful of chips. He was chewing as he walked away, so instead of saying goodbye verbally he lightly slapped her bottom as he walked by.

Her entire body immediately turned as red as her hair before she looked around frantically to make sure no one else had seen. That was so embarrassing! The coast seemed to be clear. Composing herself, she walked back to the shoot.

….

…

Later that night, the models celebrated their new photo spread and enormous paychecks at Tokyo's hottest nightclub. Looking the way they did, of course they had no problem getting in. "Unlimited Sake on me!" A tipsy Rangiku yelled from atop a table. Cheers echoed throughout the club.

Orihime giggled as she watched Hisagi try to lure Rangiku down from the table. Neliel smiled too as she glanced at the scene. The two girls, who had become fast friends, continued to dance together, attracting a lot of male attention. Ichigo watched protectively while he sipped on a beer and leaned against a counter with Renji. He glowered as a group of college-aged men surrounded his girlfriend and Neliel. "Watch this for me." Ichigo requested as he left his beer with Renji and headed toward the crowd.

Orihime giggled as Neliel spun her. Both girls seemed unaware of all the attention they were attracting as they swayed their hips and playfully grinded. "Hey Nel, mind if I cut in?" Ichigo asked.

"Get your own girlfriend." Nel playfully stuck her tongue out at him.

The tall orange haired man rolled his eyes before lightly bumping Neliel away with his hip. She mock pouted before walking away to dance with Ikkaku. Ichigo moved in close to Orihime, lowering his hands to cup her perky derriere. Orihime raised an eyebrow. He wasn't normally big on public displays of affection, so she realized he must have been marking his claim. She wrapped her arms around his neck before looking around her, noticing her audience for the first time.

The couple swayed lightly to and fro. Seeing some of the guys hadn't taken the hint to back off, Ichigo leaned down and kissed her. She opened her mouth and he swept his tongue inside. Her tongue briefly tangled around his before he pulled away, sucking on her neck until a hickey formed. He looked proudly at his handiwork. Most of the male club goers had gotten the hint that she was taken and flitted away.

Orihime rose onto her tiptoes and Ichigo leaned down so she could whisper in his ear. "Are you jealous?" She echoed his statement from earlier in the day.

He smirked. "Why would I be jealous? They might get to look, but I'm the only one who gets to touch." To punctuate his statement, he squeezed her bottom. "But it does piss me off when men look at you as if they have a shot."

Orihime smiled. "Well, you have nothing to worry about. I really like you, you know."

"I love you too." Ichigo replied before capturing her lips for another kiss.

….

…

End! Thank you to everyone who has reviewed, favorited, and alerted. I was so happy to get 13 reviews from the last update. Please continue to review! It really makes my day!


	5. Hands

A/N: Spoilers if you're not up to date on the manga.

The last time he had held someone's hand, it had been his mother's.

They had been walking back from the dojo. It was raining. With one hand, she held her favorite bright yellow umbrella over both their heads. Yellow suited her. Yellow was warm, yellow was welcoming, yellow was the sun. She had been his sun, and his whole world revolved around her. The hand unoccupied by the umbrella was firmly encircled around his own small hand. With his hand in hers, he remembered feeling like nothing could hurt him. Like he was invincible. It was a great feeling. A feeling he wouldn't give up for anything in the world.

But then he saw the girl. And he couldn't tell the dead people from the living people yet. And he had run off. And of course, his mother had followed. She had died. And he had changed. He became guarded, withdrawn. If he didn't allow anyone to come close, he would never again be vulnerable to such damaging hurt.

So how had she managed to worm her way into his heart despite all the barriers he had placed around it?

He glanced down at their hands. Her small, pale, delicate hand had a tight grip on his long fingers. Her hand was noticeably trembling. He wasn't sure what she was so afraid of, him, or the war.

War. Always war. He would give anything if he and his friends could just enjoy a moment of rest. He needed peace. Peace or a slice of salvation.

He raised his gaze from their hands up to the auburn hair girl who had just gathered the courage to grasp his strong hand, something she had wanted to do for a very long time now. Maybe she was his salvation. She wasn't looking at him, her gaze instead turned towards the carnage. The Quincies had returned to Soul Society, intent on finishing what they had started. Zanpakutos and arrows clashed, bodies littered the floor. This wouldn't be over until one side was completely wiped out.

He still didn't completely understand his mother's Quincy heritage. He had a feeling he never would. But it didn't matter. His loyalty was with Soul Society. And his friends. And Orihime.

He freed his hand from her grip. Before she could begin overanalyzing his actions and assuming this was his way of rejecting her, he intertwined his calloused fingers with her dainty digits and squeezed her hand reassuringly.

With her hand in his, Ichigo once again felt invincible. He would have to release her hand eventually and fight. And she would need to look and see if there were any survivors she could help. But for a moment, the orange haired pair was content to just stand on the hill overlooking the madness. Hand in hand.


End file.
